Fayge Safran. Interim Director of the Jewish New Teacher Project, (JNTP) writes about how the program helps empower new teachers and encourage them to grow in the field while greatly benefitting the veteran teacher mentors. The JNTP has developed a large network of over 150 mentors and 500 teachers through its work in more than 70 Jewish day schools and yeshivot since its inception.

JNTP's solution to teacher retention is to help instill autonomy, mastery and purpose into day school educators’ jobs by providing intensive mentoring to beginning teachers, so that they teach well and feel good about their jobs. New teachers mentored through JNTP have a higher level of professionalism and mastery – their data shows that after two years in the program, second year teachers are teaching on a fourth year level. And, while the national retention rate for new teachers is 50%, 90% of JNTP-mentored new teachers are still in the field of Jewish education after 5 years!

The new teacher induction program involves 90 minutes per week of one-on-one instructional mentoring, plus weekly classroom observations and feedback. Highly trained JNTP mentors use professional teaching standards to guide beginning teachers in developing practical skills in classroom management, lesson planning and pedagogy. They also provide emotional and practical support as teachers adjust to their first years of teaching.

Their studies also show that JNTP mentors also have increased job satisfaction and retention.